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04 September, 2008

Tender Delicious Dumplings

I love dumplings. Tender little pillowy clouds of dough floating on simmering gravy...what's not to like?

There seems to be two kinds of dumplings in American cooking - rolled dumplings, and drop dumplings. My mom always made the drop kind, so I do, too. Some people think that drop dumplings are heavier and denser than rolled dumplings, but if they can be light and fluffy if you don't mix the batter too much and if you give it time to rest before you drop the batter into the gravy. Here's the recipe I've been using for 30 years:

Stir dry ingredients together well with a fork or a whisk. Combine milk and oil, and pour all at once into the flour mixture. Stir briskly with a fork until the mixture is evenly moistened, but don't overmix it. The batter should be sticky, slightly wet, and almost as thick as dough.

Set the dumpling mix aside for ten minutes. Then, scoop out spoon-sized lumps and drop them atop simmering stew. Cover the pot and allow to slowly simmer for 15 minutes. Don't lift the lid and peek at all or the dumplings won't rise! (I cover my pot with a glass lid so I won't be tempted to peek. Lifting the lid really does ruin the dumplings.) makes 8 to 10 dumplings, depending on the size of your scoops.

Some tips:

If the batter is too thick, sprinkle in a little more milk or some water to make it very soft and sticky.

Letting the dumpling mix sit for ten minutes is the secret to extra-fluffy dumplings. During that ten minutes, the baking powder starts to work and makes the dumpling mix start to rise. When you scoop out the batter to drop into the stew, you'll see all the air holes where the baking powder has been working. In the heat of the stew, the baking powder goes into overdrive and really makes the dumplings rise into fluffy, floury puffs.

My recipe is based on the one given in the 1967 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (the Chicken and Dumplings recipe is where you'll find it.) The original is horribly bland. This version is still kind of bland, too. If you're not watching your sodium intake, you can add about half a teaspoon of your favorite seasoning salt in addition to the teaspoon of salt included to make them taste better. When I make these for chicken, I like to add half a teaspoon or so of Bell's Seasoning (my favorite brand of poultry seasoning.)

Don't peek when they're cooking! It's the steam and the simmer from the stew that makes them turn out so wonderful. That's why I use a glass cover on the pot - so I don't even get tempted to look.

I've eaten dumplings cooking like this maybe twice or thrice, and have wondered why some tasted more heavy and dense than others. Now that you've explained the difference, I wouldn't mind trying. But first a question, on your ingredients list, you mentioned using baking powder twice. Is one of them meant to be baking soda? Please advise.

rolled dumplings? might as well just drop in some egg noodles and forgo the "trouble" as there's not much diff between slightly overcooked flat noodles and the supposed "rolled dumpling"...

i won't even mention that there's absolutely no comparison between flat dumplings and drop dumplings... if you like biscuits, then you'll really like drop dumplings... those other things just have no "body" to them ;)

Hello Dave,Thanks for posting this recipe. I have been trying to make light and fluffy dumplings for years! I found this recipe on your blog a few weeks ago and have been using it very successfully ever since. I Am making them as I type right now for Christmas Dinner. Thanks Again!Kim

Thank you so much for this recipe. A fluffy dumpling that would make my mom proud. Like you mom, mine always made the fluffy kind and I could never quite replicate her dumpling. What was it about your recipe that was different from all the others I tried from on line recipies? Because you took the time to carefully explain the process, not just list the ingredients. I guess the 10 minute rise time and no peaking were the keys to the success of a great fluffy dumpling. I am now an official fan of your site. Thanks again...Tom

P.S. Now I can't wait to try some of your other recipies. I am sure that they are great as well.

I just want to say thank you. You've given me some ideas as to why some of dumplings were gooey and some were fluffy and all being from the same batter. I had started letting mine rest. I am thawing out some chicken to give it a try. Again Thanks!!

I have to tell you I've been attempting to make light fluffy dumplings from scratch for 25 plus years. My mother had a beautiful knack with them but I had given in to Jiffy Mix. One night out of Jiffy Mix and deep in a pot of chicken stew I turned to the interwebs for help and came across your wonderful recipe. These remind me of my mother's dumplings so much. The first time I made them I took some to her and she heartily approved. Thank you so much for sharing.

These are incredible! What a fantastic treat. I made them for a larger group of seniors who no longer cook and they were reminded of the days when they made food like this for their own families. Thank you so much Dave for sharing! Deb

My mom died when I was young and having no family, all recipes have been lost.I remember her making a few things that I have never been able to replicate.

1) first is a dumpling that she rolled and with a pizza cutter or knife, sliced these into triangle formations after rolling with a rolling pin covered in flour. After cutting them up, she dropped them slowly one by one into bubbling broth or soup. They never puffed into fluffy dumplings but were gooey and sticky but were larger in size.

2nd thing was a sage and onion breadcrumb stuffing used for chicken and turkey and rolled stuffed steak. It tasted allot like like store bought stove top stuffing but I now live in Europe and some herbs and spices etc are not available here.

3rd things are pickling items. I've tried making sour dill pickles. These are not available in stores....just sweet and sour. I made my own in Canada and used pickling vinegar and kosher salt. These make a great taste difference. Do you have an easy refrigerator pickles that will work using normal things I can buy here?

Baking soda is also not available and what they sell for baking powder does't even say that's what it is.

I wanted to make tapioca pudding but the only tapioca they have here is like corn starch, its used for thickening only.

They have no premade pie crust (i'm terrrible at making dough) and no pumpkin pie filling in the can to make pumpkin pie etc.

If anyone can help me on this site with any of these problems, I would appreciate it also.

These are hands down the fluffiness dumplings I have ever made! Thank you for this great recipe! For those of you that are gluten & dairy free, I subbed with Manini's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour & unsweetend almond milk (cup for cup) with excellent results. :)

I have been looking for a recipe for dumplings like my grandmother made and these might just be it. Hers were mushy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. She made them to go with her spareribs and sauerkraut so they were cooked in salted water. As kids we always ate them with sugar and cinnamon and they were quite large, about tennis ball size, I think. I will give it a try as her recipe died with her.

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